Ballotpedia identified California's 31st Congressional District as a 2014 "simmering" race because the district had a slight Democratic lean, and President Barack Obama won 57 percent of the vote in 2008 and 2012.[4] In addition, the seat was being vacated by Miller. Miller was able to win re-election in 2012 due to four Democratic candidates splitting the primary vote, which allowed the two Republican candidates to advance past the primary. The same scenario almost occurred in 2014 but was prevented because three Republican candidates ran, rather than two.

After losing to Aguilar, Chabot released a report blaming his loss on a lack of support and funding from national Republican groups. The following statement was included in the report: “On a level and fair playing field, GOP Nominee Chabot could have won. He constantly had high polling numbers among high propensity voters for one simple reason – that’s the only group he could afford to ‘communicate with.’ . . . With additional resources, he could have matched the breadth of DEM Nominee Aguilar and (the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) to reach the mid and lower level propensity voters, and won those majorities as well, based on polling. Unfortunately, there was a forgone (sic) conclusion that this race was lost, from day-1 (sic).”[8]

Chabot released the report with the hope that the GOP would examine his loss and losses in other districts in California and create a better plan for 2016. He said, "My hope is that this really is a learning experience for the party, because not only did they lose this seat, but they lost every seat in the state of California where they were challenging a Democratic incumbent. So the GOP wave crashed in California. They’ve got to support candidates better when they were going up against a Democrat who has full party support. ... You can’t treat candidates that way, because otherwise they’re not going to run.”[9]

According to Jack Pitney, professor of American History at Claremont McKenna College, “Bottom line, he’s [Chabot] got a point. They had a really successful year nationwide, but it could have been even better, if they had just allocated their resources a little differently.”[9]

Candidate Filing Deadline

Primary Election

General Election

March 7, 2014

June 3, 2014

November 4, 2014

Primary: California is one of three states to use a blanket primary, or top-two system, which allows all candidates to run and all voters to vote but only moves the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, to the general election.[10][11][12]

Voter registration: To vote in the primary, voters had to register by May 19, 2014. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 20, 2014 (the 15th calendar day before that election).[13]

Race background

Cal Voters for Honest Government

A secretive group, Cal Voters for Honest Government, spent money to support Joe Baca's campaign. The group sent out mailers, made phone calls and put up billboards in support of Baca. The group failed to disclose its spending to the Federal Election Commission, as required by law.[15]

Primary election

A recount of the primary race began on June 25, three weeks after the election, to determine whether Pete Aguilar (D) or third-place finisher Lesli Gooch (R) would advance to the general election to face Paul Chabot (R). At the time, Gooch trailed Aguilar by just 209 votes. Gooch conceded after the first day of the recount yielded her only one additional vote.[16] Aguilar went on to defeat Chabot in the general election on November 4, 2014.

Oct. 20 debate

Aguilar and Chabot met to debate at the University of Redlands on October 20. They discussed immigration, climate change, healthcare and ISIS, among other issues. Below are some of their statements.[17]

Immigration

Aguilar: Aguilar argued for comprehensive reform and a path to citizenship. He said, “We need to offer a path to citizenship if they’re willing to pay taxes and submit to a background check. It’s good for the economy and it keeps our region together. The notion that you can just deport 11 million people is the wrong policy. My opponent supported a radical Arizona proposal here in California that would support racially profiling. That’s the wrong policy for this region and San Bernardino County.”[17]

Chabot: Chabot argued for border security. He said, “If you’re a mom and dad in Mexico or Latin American countries with corruption and violence you want to get out. We should mandate our federal aid dollars go to Mexico to do two things, increasing societal rule of law and rooting out corrupting, so the good people of Mexico want to stay safe in their country.”[17]

Climate change

Aguilar: Aguilar argued that climate change was a significant problem that needed to be addressed immediately, and he also accused Chabot of not believing in climate change. He said, “Local communities and the state of California are taking the initiative to do this on their own because we lack federal leadership. If the federal government can act, then local communities will follow suit. We also believe here in this community that you think globally and you act locally. ...this is the issue of our time. This is what this election boils down to. Clear contrasts like this issue. We need to address climate change. We need to have emissions targets, we need to take action at the federal level.”[17]

Chabot: Chabot expressed his support for renewable energy and protecting the environment but criticized environmental policies that hurt American businesses. He said, “Certainly we want clean air and clean water for our kids. But the extremism has driven out business, closed down companies in Colton and is hurting the middle class. We need to be very cautious about how we do this for the strength, security and safety for the United States of America.”[17]

Healthcare

Aguilar: Aguilar argued that the Affordable Care Act should be fixed. He said, “what we can’t do is go back to a time when insurance companies get to make the decisions on who is covered and who isn’t. We need to keep what works and we need to fix what doesn’t. What we can’t do is go back to a time when being a woman was a pre existing condition.”[17]

Chabot: Chabot argued that the Affordable Care Act was detrimental to middle class Americans and should be reformed. He said, “I want everyone to be able to keep their doctors, but I do think we should cover pre-existing conditions. I think it’s a critical compassionate part of this. What we need to understand is that government is not the answer to these solutions. We already have a nationally run healthcare system ladies and gentlemen. It’s called the VA and it has failed our veterans across the country.”[17]

ISIS

Aguilar: Aguilar expressed his support for targeted air strikes against ISIS. He said, “...I support the intelligence community working in the region in order to have key strikes and destroy them. If we have learned anything over the last 14 years is fighting ideology alone can’t be done with ground troops.”[17]

Chabot: Drawing on his experience in the Navy and serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chabot disagreed with Obama's handling of ISIS. He said, “As soldiers we all want peace, but this is a battle of good versus evil and this battle will not be won by air alone. Going into battle, sending your sons and daughters into battle is one of the most important tasks of the Commander in Chief. I don’t take it lightly. I know what it’s like. I left my wife and our six month old baby to go overseas. We also know we have a duty as Americans to protect and defend our great nation.”[17]

Government shutdown

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201.[21] At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference.[22]Gary Miller voted for the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.[23]

The shutdown ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.[24] The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. Gary Miller voted for HR 2775.[25]

Endorsements

Pete Aguilar

The following Democratic representatives endorsed Aguilar in his primary battle:[26][27][28]

Reyes also received the endorsement of former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. She said, "In this day and age when the powerful special interests are gaining even more power, the working families that make our country strong need a strong voice and their own tenacious fighter in Congress. Eloise Gomez Reyes is the person for the job. She has spent her entire career fighting for working families and people who can’t fight for themselves."[31]

Polls

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Media

Pete Aguilar

Pete Aguilar's first TV ad.

Eloise Gomez Reyes

Eloise Gomez Reyes' first TV ad.

Campaign contributions

Outside spending

The DCCC spent $26,000 on an unspecified media buy and $22,000 on mailers attacking Republican Lesli Gooch in an attempt to keep him from securing the second place spot in the blanket primary.[34]